NEW YORK, NY (May 21, 2013) — Jonathan LeVine Gallery is pleased to present Uphill Both Ways, a two-person exhibition curated by Roger Gastman, featuring new works by Chicago-based artist Pose and Detroit-based artist Revok. In conjunction with what will be their first show in New York, the artists will also collaborate on a large-scale mural on the famed Goldman Properties wall located on Houston and Bowery streets, in lower Manhattan.

Although style, medium and techniques vary between the two artists, their work is strongly connected from a conceptual standpoint. The exhibition title Uphill Both Ways(inspired by late graffiti artist NEKST), relates to the battles Pose and Revok have faced personally with legal persecution and loss, as well as general themes of the human struggle on a macro level, one of the common threads in their bodies of work. The artists both draw inspiration directly from their environments and both of their processes involve chopping up various elements and reassembling the slices to form a synthesis of intriguing shapes, forms and textures.

Pose’s works reference disparate sources—pop and comic art, skateboard and advertising graphics, collage, sign painting and graffiti. Painting portraits of the human condition, he re-appropriates the visual language of the street and overwhelming experience of consumer culture to convey a broad spectrum of emotions—pain, triumph, joy, fear, love and loss. His fragmented imagery is intended to disarm pretense, making the work universally accessible and open to interpretation. Revok creates abstract geometric panels with vibrant colors and striking patterns using found materials sourced from abandoned homes, schools, businesses and churches—sampling bits and pieces of people’s lives, hopes, dreams and aspirations—reinterpreted through rich layers of history, decay and age-worn patina.

This is the trailer for the documentary The Legend of Cool “Disco” Dan. Narrated by Henry Rollins. The world premiere will take place at 8pm on Saturday February 23, 2013 at the AFI Silver Theater located in Silver Spring Maryland.

From director Roger Gastman—a producer of the Academy Award-nominated documentary Exit Through the Gift Shop—comes Wall Writers, a documentary on graffiti in its innocence.

Through unprecedented access to TAKI 183, CORNBREAD, and a host of other legendary writers, Wall Writers tells the story of a time when underprivileged city kids refused to keep lurking in the shadows, when the streets were so wild that fame and infamy became indistinct, when art became a democracy and self-promotion became an art.

I never set out to make this documentary. I was doing research for a book I put out last year “The History of American Graffiti” and I became fascinated with the true beginnings of modern graffiti. So many graffiti writers my co-author and I talked to claimed they were the first to do it. That they did “this in 1969” or what ever year. If you did the math to how old they were the year they were claiming it just wasn’t true. I set out to find the truth.

Once I started digging up these early graffiti writers in New York City and Philadelphia, many who had not been talked to or had thought about graffiti in over 30 years I figured I better film them! Who knows if they will disappear again or not want to talk about graffiti again! The more people I interviewed and filmed the more I started to realize we had something special. A true “moment in time” that told the history of modern graffiti, something that has become the worlds fastest growing art movement.

We turned over every rock we could. Looked through every archive you could think of and we dug up some amazing photos and archive footage to help tell the story. FREEDOM aka Chris Pape helped produce and write the film, Ikey Owens (The Mars Volta is one of the many bands he has been a part of) came on and did the score. One of my art icons and amazing filmmaker John Waters did the voice over!

We have a 58 minute near finished film that I personally think is awesome and so do the people that have seen it. I have invested countless time and more money then I would care to admit into this project. Now I ask for assistance in getting it out there to the world. I need to acquire the rights too much of the archival footage and cover the costs of post production. Also I would like to do a weekend showing of the film in NY and LA before Wall Writers goes out for general distribution.

If you are a fan of graffiti, street art or subculture in general this is an educational film you must see. Please help make it a reality. It’s so close!

PS: all rewards can be shipped outside of US – just need to add shipping fee!

They began on the streets as graffiti rivals, but today are the best of friends. There’s no doubting that POSE and KC Ortiz make a unique pair.

POSE is the ambassador of Chicago’s urban scene, revered for his signature collage style that combines pop culture, graffiti, fairy tales, and hand-painted signage into a vibrant neon palette. KC is an ex-graffiti artist and now an award-winning photojournalist who travels to places such as West Papua and Burma, gaining the trust of the local people and bringing their pictures and stories to a global audience.

Together, POSE and KC’s work reflects the Chicago art scene and the world beyond, and is displayed side-by-side in the just-opened exhibition, “White Wash.” POSE’s work for the show takes on Chicago’s strict buff policy, while KC’s work shedds light on suppressed peoples and cultures. The exhibition opened at Los Angeles’s Known Gallery on November 19 and runs through December 10.

Roger Gastman is a curator and author specializing in the history of graffiti and street art. Most recently he is the co-author, with Caleb Neeson, of ‘The History of American Graffiti’ (Harper Design, 2010), and co-curator of ‘Art in the Streets’ at the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art.